Tell me
by psykomaker.exe
Summary: ... what are your dreams?
1. tell me

A three-shot fanfiction (I do hope so), written in the moods of Valentine's Day. :D

Yay to Soulsilvershipping!

**

* * *

Can You Tell Me?**

* * *

It was quite abrupt, actually.

Soul just disappeared. Vanished. As if swallowed by the Earth (although it did happen at the Burned Tower, once). What was surprising was the fact that she failed to visit home when she promised to do so, and Soul - although not a perfect person - is not the one to break promises, which had everyone worried. Frantic even. Her mother was in nervous state of depression, especially calls to her Pokegear were unanswered. Gold? Even more so, although Krys did help calm him down (she's always the level-headed one in these situations). Even Morty, with his oh-so-special ability, failed to locate her.

Which brought him to the current situation. _Him_, of all people.

.x.

"Hello, Silver?" The unfamiliar voice and number made him wary.

"… Who's this?"

"It's Krys, duh." He could hear the smirk in her answer.

"Well, sorry for not knowing the number." Sarcasm dripped in his voice.

"I got your number from Gold's Pokegear. Thought I'd be the one to call you."

"Whatever it is, you made the right decision." Among the few people he knew, Gold was the one he was - in simpler terms - _allergic_ to. If Gold did call him, he'd probably throw the Pokegear away as far as he could. He was okay with Krys though. Apart from Soul, she's the only other person who could tolerate his biting remarks – and replied his sarcastic words with her own.

If he's a softie, he could say that he liked Krystal (but he's not, so let's leave it at that).

"Hellooo? Krys to Sil-Sil!" That jolted him back to reality.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." He growled, but Krys wasn't the one to get scared.

"Did you heard what I said?" He sensed the impatience in her voice now.

"What?" He was thinking how did Gold got his number.

"Soul's disappeared. Last time heard or seen was last month."

A momentary silence. Then…

"SOUL'S WHAT?"

"_Now_ you're listening."

.x.

"Wow, you're on time for once." Krys greeted him. Silver looked around before his silvery grey eyes rested on Krys. He had no idea why, of all places, Krys wanted to meet him at the park in Cherrygrove City.

"Right, knowing you, you're probably wondering why I asked you to meet me here." Silver nodded, allowing her to continue.

"Well, the last place she's been seen is actually in Ecruteak actually, at the Burned Tower. But I can't get away from Soul's mother for too long. She's in a fragile state ever since Soul vanished. Not to mention Gold too." She sat on the wooden bench, keeping a respectful distance between herself and him. For all his toleration for her, he still didn't like human contact.

"Makes sense."

"So I want you to go and search for her." Silver's face snapped towards her so fast that she jerked back.

"Why me?" Silver raised an eyebrow.

"Because, apart from me and Gold, you're one of the closest to her, which is saying something," she replied. There's something else too, but Krys didn't mention that. Soul is a quiet girl, who rarely talks and only shows her real self when she's with someone she's comfortable with. Silver knew that. He sighed before nodding.

"Fine, I'll try."

"Good, because if you refused, I'd force you to do it anyway."

.x.

He found her three days later, surprisingly, at Ilex Forest. Waaaay deep in the forest (to tell the truth, he got lost), where the sun could only penetrate ever so slightly as to give the whole place a surreal look and pretty much away from the traveler's route.

He found her fishing. _Fishing_, when the world turned upside down because she disappeared. She and her Typhlosion –who was wearing that stupid white hat - stared at him in surprise when he emerged from the bushes, his Feraligatr in tow.

"Silver? What are you doing here?" She had the nerve to ask him that.

"You didn't answer your Pokegear, disappeared so suddenly, made everyone worried about you, and you ask me what I'm doing here?" He made his way to her, each step trampling the ground with more force than necessary. She stood up slowly and backed away from him, as if afraid (not that she shouldn't be).

He walked towards to her, and she stepped back until her back collided against a tree. She winced at the jolt, but the next thing was Silver standing in front of her, offering her no way of escape. Her Typhlosion and his Feraligatr didn't do anything other than stared at them. They were knowledgeable enough to know that Silver wouldn't hurt Soul. Silver took a deep breath to calm himself.

"What the _hell_ you're doing here, Soul?"

.x.

He had stood before her until she had weakly waved him away and told him she would explain, yet she didn't say a word after that. Instead, she fidgeted and fiddled and mumbled until Silver nearly lost his cool. The only reason he didn't was because Soul was totally not herself. Either that, or it was a side of her he'd never seen before.

He had called Krys (he had to fly on his Crobat to get the signal) to tell her he had found Soul, but did not disclose their current location when asked. He simply told Krys not to worry and ended the call.

Three hours later and they were sitting across the fire, eating dinner (all their pokemon are also out and eating) quietly.

"I am searching."

Silver looked up from his food, taken aback by that abrupt statement.

"Huh?"

"I am searching." Soul put her half-eaten food down, losing her appetite. Silver waited for her to continue, but when she doesn't, he prompts.

"Searching for what, exactly?" Up until now, Soul never met his eyes, but she does it now. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes tells him differently, the usual hazel brown now darker, troubled.

"… I don't know..." her voice was so low that he strained himself to listen it, above the crackling fire and the pokemon. "… can you tell me?"

* * *

Short, but that's my limit. I hope that they are not OOC.

Soul is a mixture of the game and my interpretation of her character (silent/quiet type, but cheery when with her close friends).

All the four's age are not really determined, but I'd say around 17-19, with Silver and Krys older than Gold and Soul.

I hope to update this daily, with the last arc on the 14th :D

R&R!


	2. your dreams

Onto the second arc. :D

I just realized that the title and the summary doesn't make much sense… yet.

(**Edit:** First arc is reedited - thanks to **The Finesseful X** for correcting me, I was distracted by… something, so I kinda lost it there.)

* * *

"**What Are Your Dreams?"****

* * *

**

He stared at her.

And stared.

And stared some more.

He was debating in his head, whether to ask her what the hell she meant by the "I don't know" or just go to her and give her a good smack to her head for asking _him _to tell_ her _what_ she's _been searching for.

Silver chose the latter, and by a good smack to her head, he really meant a _good_ smack.

"Oooww!" Soul held her head with her right hand, eyes smarting. The absence of her hat made it even more painful. "Why did you do that-" A glare from him was enough to silence her.

Another smack.

"Oooww!" She raised both her hands to cover her head.

"The first smack is because you've been so exceptionally stupid, the second one because you asked why-" Another smack ensued, to which Soul responded in the same manner as before, "- and the third one for disappearing and having me to search for you."

She pouted, mumbling, "… It's not like I told you to search for me, I can take care of myself."

"Ooowww! Quit it already!"

"… Man, that feels good," Silver looked around to see that the pokemon had ignored them – a good thing, he didn't want another repeat scene with her Typhlosion (which ended badly for him) – and proceeded to sit beside her. The atmosphere somehow lightened with his actions, and she certainly recovered some of her childish side back, if not fully. Looking at her shimmering eyes, he suddenly felt guilty. Perhaps he did go a little bit too far…

"OWW!" Silver held his head. He certainly did not expect her to smack his head back.

.x.

Needless to say, it turned out to be a mini war, which only ended with the help of Feraligatr and Typhlosion separating them away from each other (Feraligatr had rolled his eyes when he pulled Silver away –his master just don't know when to give up). Typhlosion only shook his head.

"Is your head any clearer now?" Silver stopped struggling against his starter. His actions was mimicked by Soul. She glared at him.

"You, Silver, are not a gentleman." Pulling herself away from her pokemon, she pulled the bands off her pigtail – her hair's a mess thanks to the redhead. As she ran her hand through her hair, she realized her head _is_ clearer than before, as if all the churning thoughts had settled down, even if not sorted out.

"Well?" Ignoring Soul's statement, Silver raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"… Yeah," she reluctantly admitted. Sighing, she sat down again, closer to the fire. That little fight also made her tired, which showed in form of a yawn.

"If you're tired, you should go to sleep." His tone was firm; not that she wanted to argue anyway. Sleep sounded nice at that moment. She nodded, not bothering to speak as she pulled out her sleeping bag from her bag (one of the many wonders that defied physics law; she stopped thinking about them long time ago). Silver's even more mysterious; he seemed to pull out his sleeping bag out of thin air. She gave another yawn as she slipped into her sleeping bag and promptly fell asleep without much further thought.

.x.

She jolted awake suddenly; not knowing the reason for doing so. Looking at her Pokegear, she noted that it was only 3 in the morning. She turned and closed her eyes, trying to drift into sleep again. It proved to be futile. Opening her eyes, she sat up.

_Hmm, might as well find some fuel for the fire_, Soul decided as she noticed the dying fire. She stood up.

"Going somewhere?"

"Eek!" She turned to his direction. "You startled me!"

"… You're not going to run away, aren't you?" Silver stood up, as if ready to catch her or something.

"No! I'm just going to find some firewood for the fire!" She'd forgotten that he's a light sleeper – he'd told her that before once.

Silver sat down as he heard her reply, which made Soul frown.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to help me?"

Silver smirked, one of those smirks that really annoyed the hell out of her.

"What makes you think I'm going to help you?"

"Ugh," she turned away from him. "And here I am thinking you've changed for the better," she mumbled to herself as she called her Ampharos to follow her. Silver heard that comment. If possible, his smirk became even more annoying – even though Soul couldn't see it.

"You're delusional, Soul."

She returned around twenty minutes later. Ignoring him, she busied herself with the fire. Once satisfied she sat down, hugging her knees. After a somewhat awkward silence, Silver decided to get down to business.

"So, what made you to start 'searching'?" He made quotation marks with his fingers. He waited for her to answer, but got none. He sighed.

"Scratch that, let's try again. What did you do when you disappeared?"

"Uum, I just travelled around. Off the route. You know, forests and caves…" Soul shrugged. "… sometimes just doing completely random things. Like fishing, and ice skating…" Silver frowned – "… basically I just broke off human contact. I get my supplies by Gale," Soul glanced at her sleeping Pidgeot.

"You ice-skated when people are worried sick about you?" Silver couldn't help the sarcasm in his voice. "You even broke a promise with your mother, and as far as I know you, _you_ never break a promise," he continued. She flinched as he said it, but tried to appear nonchalant about it.

"Fine, I'll go home tomorrow, satisfied?"

"The hell with home, Soul!" Silver stood up, angry. The fact that Soul's been acting innocent did not help either. "You did a completely stupid thing that I thought even the Gold brat wouldn't do! And right now you're trying to steer off the topic, but it's not going to work with _me_," his voice was deathly calm now. "Tell me why you've been acting so unlike yourself – I know you know that - right _here_, right _now_." His face was now merely inches away from hers, his silver-gray eyes penetrating her hazel brown ones. She broke off the eye contact, not able to hold her gaze.

"I… I don't know. It's just that I felt… Restless. Ever since I became the Champion, I've felt something in me." Her voice was strained, somewhat desperate. Her fingers dug to her legs so hard that they threatened to bleed, but she didn't notice it. "_Emptiness_. I set out on my journey a year ago to fulfill my dream of becoming a Champion, and now that I am one, I just feel…" she broke off, unable to continue. Silver stared at her outburst, unable of making any reply. After a while, she continued.

"Last month… I just couldn't take it anymore. Ever since I became the Champion, people would come and praise and compliment and flatter me – because I'm the youngest Champion ever. They never looked past that. I just -" Silver put his hand over her mouth, cutting off her sentence.

"Soul, you're an idiot." Her eyes widened at his action, although when she realized what he had said, it changed to a frown. "Now, shut up and listen to me. You're going back home right _now_ – I'll damn make sure you do – and meet your mother. Then," Silver smiled a rare half-smile, a genuine one- "I guess I'll just help you find a new dream."

.x.

When the two of them showed up at New Bark Town, Gold couldn't be more ecstatic. Soul's mother literally hugged Soul to an inch of her life. Krys proceeded to give her a head slap before hugging her (not as hard as Soul's mother) and welcomed her back to civilization. Silver, to their amusement, found himself agreeing to stay at Soul's home for the weekend (he never knew that Soul's mother could be _that_ persuasive). He was polite to her throughout the day – a feat that Gold thought impossible (a remark that earned him a head slap from Krys).

Silver secretly enjoyed the atmosphere, even though he would never admit it to anyone.

The weekend passed all too soon – Soul had a talk with her mother, explaining her disappearance (her mother's eyes twitched when she heard Soul's activities while 'vanishing') and had told her what she intended to do, to which her mother just nodded with a knowing gleam in her eyes – and at the last night, Silver found himself lying on the roof, staring at the twinkling stars.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Soul's face appeared on the attic window, which he had used to get on the roof.

"Couldn't sleep, I guess,"

"Come down, I'll make you some tea to help you sleep,"

"I don't like tea."

"Hot chocolate then?" Silver knew she's not going to give up on this one.

"… Fine. I'll go down."

Only when under the bright light in the kitchen Silver noticed Soul's hair had been let down. _She looks different,_ he thought, looking at her in beige t-shirt and black cargo pants (an odd choice for sleeping, but that's Soul for you). Having nothing else to do, he just stared at her while she made two mugs of hot chocolate, and began to notice… things.

"Here you are. Hot chocolate," she handed him one of the mugs. His running train of thought stopped abruptly as he took it and drank.

"Humph, quite good, I think," Silver smirked.

"Hot chocolate's my specialty." Soul smiled. There was a silence as they each drank and kept their thoughts to themselves. That is, until a thought occurred to Silver.

"So, where do we start tomorrow?" He asked, setting his mug down onto the counter he'd been leaning against.

"Maybe Ecruteak City? That's one of my favorite places," Soul stopped to drink some more of the hot chocolate. "Say, Silver…"

"What?"

"You said you'll help me find a new dream, but do you have any dreams yourself?" Silver was surprised by the abrupt question.

"I don't have any. Not anymore." His expression darkened upon remembering the Team Rocket incident.

To his astonishment, Soul stepped in front of him, their faces inches away from each other – a repeat at Ilex Forest.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to help you search a new one then." She smiled.

* * *

… Well. End of second arc :D (re-edited)

Too many distractions while I typed this. Do you know the pokespe-tokyo underground crossover op video? It's awesome :D

As usual, R&R! Especially constructive ones, I appreciate it if you do :D


	3. mine is

The third arc :D

Many thanks to those who had read, reviewed, alerted and faved :D

Too many distractions while writing this (Claymore + Saiyuki Reload = MAJOR ones)

**

* * *

Mine Is Different Than Yours (Or Is It?)**

* * *

"We'll be going then, Mom." Soul hugged her mother.

"Take good care of yourself, and don't forget to call sometimes, okay?" She patted Soul's hat. Soul nodded, grinning sheepishly – she knew her mother doesn't want a repeat of the last time. Soul stepped back and released Gale, her Pidgeot, while Silver called out his Crobat.

"Wait, Silver, can I talk to you? It won't take long." Silver was climbing up his flier, but climbed down again. _It's not like I can refuse her_, Silver thought as he retraced his steps towards Soul's mother.

"Yes ma'am?" Silver couldn't help yet again as he noticed the many similarities between Soul and her. He slapped himself mentally for the umpteenth time. _She's her mother you dumbass, of course there're similarities!_

"Silver? I need you to promise me something," her eyes penetrated him, making himself feel exposed – a trait passed down to her daughter. Silver nodded.

"Take care of my daughter." Silver smirked upon hearing this.

"She's the Champion, ma'am. I doubt she needs protection."

"No, I mean it, _take care _of her." Silver nodded indifferently, just to reassure her – but something in her eyes made him swallow. Something in her voice made him pause. Something in her words made him think.

"… I promise."

.x.

"What are we going to do here _again_?"

"Come on Silver, be a sport. There's no harm in helping people, you know?"

Silver gave Soul an irritated/annoyed look. They had stopped at Azalea Town an hour before – Soul wanted Kurt to make some balls from the apricorns she had collected. Then the Charcoal guy just had to ask Soul to find his Farfetch'd _again_ in the Ilex Forest. He was about to tell him off (none too politely – he IS Silver, after all) when Soul agreed to help.

Silver leaned against a tree and crossed his arms. "Well, there's no harm in watching you help people too, so I'm going to do just that," Soul's eyebrow twitched in annoyance when he smirked his infamous – and irritating – smirk.

"_Jerk_."

"Say again, Soul?" He heard that remark, low as her voice was – he just wanted to make her feel even more irritated. She chose not to rise to the bait, and instead began to choose some pokeballs from her belt.

"Alright, Blaze, Gale, Phantom and Spark, I'll need help from you guys!" She called out her Typhlosion, Pidgeot, Gengar and Ampharos, leaving out her red Gyarados and Tyranitar. _A wise decision, considering Gyarados's size and Tyranitar's speed_, Silver thought as Soul began explaining the situation to her pokemon.

"- and if any of you found that Farfetch'd, signal to Gale, okay?" All her pokemon nodded, ever ready to carry out her orders, splitting to three different directions. "Alright then, off you go! Gale, stay above me!" Soul began to move herself to the last path.

"Wait, you are going to search too?" He raised an eyebrow.

"… Yeah?"

"Aren't your pokemon enough already? It's not like they're incompetent."

She retaliated by smirking, Silver-style (she doesn't pull that one often). "Well, unlike some people, I'm actually a very _competent_ person," she double-jerked her eyebrows, the smirk still on her face. "So a competent person should speed up the whole process, isn't it?" A vein popped unexpectedly on Silver's forehead. _Heh, gotta love the reverse psychology here, _she grinned to herself as she heard a growl and footsteps following her.

They walked along a path until they reached the forest shrine. Soul looked upwards.

"Any sign of the Farfetch'd yet?" She asked the Bird pokemon, only to receive a negative response. She turned to Silver… only to find him leaning against the shrine.

"Silver! Get away from that shrine!"

"Make me," he shrugged. Soul reached over to pull him away – she didn't need to as the shrine began to emit bright light, causing Silver to jump away as a greenish-white creature flew out from it. Soul gasped, realizing what is the creature.

"It's Celebi!"

"What? You sure Soul?"

Soul didn't bother to give an answer as she stared at the pokemon, who stared right back at them both. Even as they stared, Celebi began to fly around them, twirling as it did so. The next thing they knew was a flash of intense white light, blinding them.

When they regained their eyesight, Silver looked around at their new environment. Soul was still dazzled.

"Uuuhhh… Where are we? This is clearly not Ilex Forest," she glanced at Celebi, who had hovered around them. A thought occurred to her. Silver, meanwhile, was tense. He was all too familiar with this place… to the point of disturbing. He dumbly watched her rifling through her pocket and withdrew her Pokegear, before tuning in to the radio section.

"Just as I thought… Celebi had used its mystic ability, called Time Travel. We're presently trapped back in time…" she paused as she listened to the radio. "… around seven years?" Soul looked up to Silver only to find him pale and expressionless.

"Seven years? Hell… Why? Why?" He mumbled to himself, but Soul heard it. She was puzzled as he didn't seem to heard her calling him. She held his hand with her free hand, worried.

She certainly didn't expect him to catch her hand and twisted it to her back, snarling as he did so. She whimpered in pain.

"Silver!" Hearing his name brought back his attention to the current situation. He immediately released her when he noticed their position. Somewhat panicked, he grabbed her hands, examining them as he did so.

"I'm sorry! Are your hands hurt? Did I break any bones?" Soul momentarily forgot her pain as she stared at Silver.

"… Silver, what's wrong with you?"

He froze upon hearing the question. Knowing she's onto something, she looked up, only to see him turn away from her.

"Silver. Look at me." When he didn't, she gently pulled him back and slowly cupped his face. "Silver, what's the matter?" Seeing his stony expression – almost like withdrawal, denial – she didn't know what to do. Soul was exasperated. _He never acted like this before_, she stared at his eyes – once the beautiful silvery gray ones looked lifeless. She was nearly at her wits end when he spoke.

"Follow me." He pulled himself away from her before taking her hand. She found herself nearly running to keep up with his pace – Celebi trailed them from behind. They arrived at a hill, where Silver pulled her sideways to the bushes. At that moment she saw the people before them and gaped.

.x.

_Is that… Silver?_ Soul stared at the red-haired boy – obviously younger – and another man before the younger Silver. She heard voices floating towards her and tuned in to listen.

"… shall witness one day the revival of me and my Team Rocket!" the older man spoke. The boy just looked at him, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I don't understand you! You don't make any sense!" The man just watched the boy, before turning away.

"...One day, you will understand." He left the boy, walking out from her view. At this point Silver tightened his hold over her hand, causing her to glance towards him. She never saw such intense hatred on his face before – even during the Team Rocket incident. Soul's attention was diverted back to young Silver when he spoke, fist clenched.

"I don't want to understand you! I will never become someone like you. A coward when you're alone and acting like a tyrant when you're in front of other cowards!" The boy's voice raised a volume higher. "I will become strong! I will become a stronger man all by myself!"

The boy screamed towards the man's direction – "_All by MYSELF_!"

There was a silence before boy-Silver started to run towards their direction, but didn't see the three (Celebi included) lurking behind the bushes. Once he vanished from her sight, Soul turned to Silver, already adding two and two altogether.

"… Giovanni's your father, right?" She asked quietly. Silver's grip tightened, causing Soul to wince at the pressure. Silver didn't seem to realize it as he nodded mutely.

_That explains his hatred towards Team Rocket… _Soul didn't know what to say. Celebi chose the moment to fly around them again – she realized the Time Travel pokemon is going to use its ability again.

Another blinding light ensued, but this time Soul was ready. She held to Silver tightly as they travelled through time again.

.x.

She nearly fell as she felt the ground below her, if not for Silver.

"You okay?" He muttered, to which she nodded as she righted herself up. Her eyes travelled around the surroundings – they were in a cave. Celebi tugged her arm, pointing to an opening. Without word, the two teenagers walked silently through it into another, smaller cave. The first thing - man - she saw is Giovanni. His face registered surprise when he saw them both, but smoothly slid into a calm expression as he recognized the red-haired boy.

"Ah, Silver… You've grown up to be a fine young man, son," Giovanni eyes were on Silver, whose face was twisted with a mixture of hatred and repulsion.

"Do _not_ call me _son_." He growled.

"Why? You're my son, after all," Giovanni, if anything, was amused to see Silver's reaction. "And you have a girlfriend with you, aren't you a little bit young to have one? You're what, fifteen?" If they're in any other situation, Soul would have blushed – but not this one. Then she heard the radio.

"…pleased to declare Team Rocket's revival. ...Giovanni? ...Can you hear us? We have finally made it!..." She recognized the voice as Archer's. She then knew they were still in the past – four years ago.

"Touching as it is our reunion here, I have to go, son -" Silver growled again upon hearing the word 'son'. "- my old associates need me... Perhaps you two want to join us?" Giovanni asked.

"Never," Soul and Silver answered in unison, one angered, another defiant.

"Why not? We will not repeat the failure of three years ago! Team Rocket will be born again, and I – we - will rule the world!" Giovanni spread his arms as if trying to sway Silver's opinion. "No? Pity then. Prepare for defeat!" Giovanni took out a pokeball and enlarged it. Soul stepped forward, ready to battle when two things stopped her. One was the fact that she only had two pokemon with her.

Another was Silver's hand pulling her back as he stepped forward in front her protectively, a pokeball in his other hand. She looked at his expression and knew he _will_ act rashly.

"Silver." She tuned out whatever it is Giovanni was saying as Silver face turned slightly towards her. "Believe in your pokemon." She smiled a little. "You can win. I trust you."

Silver's hatred expression slowly melted away, to be replaced with something else that she couldn't comprehend. He held her hand firmly as he released his Sneasel against Giovanni's Nidoking.

"_You_ should prepare for your defeat, Giovanni," Silver spoke.

.x.

The battle ended quickly. Silver was obviously better trained than Giovanni (after all, he _was_ her rival). Giovanni stared in disbelief at his fallen pokemon.

"Impossible…" He stared at them as he recalled Kangashan. "How is this possible...? The past three years have been a waste...?" Giovanni was bewildered. " How can my own son manage to destroy my team again? The precious dream of Team Rocket has become little more than an illusion..."

"Accept the fact, Giovanni. You lost," Silver said calmly. Giovanni still stared at them – particularly Silver – before walking past them, to the outside of the cave. Soul kept her gaze on him until he couldn't be seen anymore, then she glanced at Celebi who started twirling again.

This time they landed back at their starting place, with a frantic Pidgeot rushing towards Soul and literally tackled her to the ground. Celebi glanced at them before entering the shrine and vanished. Soul patted her Pidgeot, trying to calm her down.

"Hey girl… It's alright, I'm right here," after some cajoling, the Pidgeot finally flew upwards again to keep watch on any signal from the other pokemon. Soul turned to Silver, who was standing a few feet away from her. She stood up, brushing away the dust and dirt from her clothes, but not picking up her fallen hat.

"Silver."

"Hm."

"You alright?" She mentally smacked herself for asking such a stupid question.

"Hm." His tone was flat. Then, just as unexpectedly, he laughed. A bitter laugh that made her cringed inwardly. "See how stained my blood is, Soul? My _father_ is – was – the leader of Team Rocket. _Team Rocket_," he spat the word, disgusted. "The very organization you defeated four years ago."

She was speechless at his outburst.

"I said I don't have a dream before, did I? I lied. I had one, but not as innocent as yours. Mine is different. Selfish. Ugly. My dream – my wish, my target, aim – was to take down Team Rocket once and for all. Team Rocket was the reason why my mother died in the first place. Do you know how, Soul?" Not waiting for an answer, he continued on, albeit in a dejected tone. "He was too busy with that organization that he didn't realize her health was failing. I tried again and again to bring his attention to Mother, but failed. When he did realize her condition, it was already too late." Silver's gloved hands clenched and unclenched at the memory. There was a moment's silence as he remembered.

"She died soon enough. I was actually glad because she was in so much pain that I couldn't even bear to hear, let alone see her condition. I cried for the first, and the last time at her funeral. I promised myself not to cry _ever_ after that." Silver's face was a mask of calmness – only his eyes betrayed his emotions. He turned away from Soul.

"Then I was neglected and yet cared at the same time. I was raised to believe that power was everything. And yet, it is nothing," He chuckled darkly. "I am the same as those scum you defeated, Soul."

He turned around only to see tears falling silently from Soul's eyes.

"Wh- Why are you crying?" He walked towards her, closing the gap between them, but was unsure on what to do.

She smiled weakly as she tried to wipe the tears, but they kept falling. "You promised yourself not to cry anymore, right? So I'm crying for you."

He tried to smirk, but failed. "Stupid girl."

"_You're_ the stupid one, Silver. Why make a promise like that?" She blushed a little as he also tried to wipe her tears away, but it went unnoticed by him. "Do you feel better now?" He nodded, realizing that his chest felt lighter – as if some burden had been lifted. It had - he'd told her his long-kept secret. "Good. Now, listen to _my_ story."

.x.

"I don't even know who my father is." Soul wiped away the remnants of her tears – they had finally stopped. "Ever since I was little I asked my mother about it, but I never got an answer. I guess it stopped somewhere around eight or nine, because I knew then my mother would never give one." She lifted her face upwards, meeting his eyes. "I don't know whether my blood is stained or not. I don't think I'll know it. But, if there's anything I know, I know I – like you, Silver – hated my father. Still do, I guess," She looked down at her feet.

"I lied to you about my dream. I set out on a pokemon journey four years ago to find my father. And it was purely for selfish reason, Silver. I only want to tell him my hatred for him." Her voice was barely above a whisper, but grew stronger as she spoke again. "And when time passed by, I gave up. Two years ago, to be exact. I searched the entire Kanto and Johto region and found no trace of him. But then, my mother is still here. I learned to cherish her. To forget the hatred and to enrich the love."

She smiled forlornly. "In some ways, we – and our dreams – even though different, are the same. That's why I never gave up on you, ever since we first battled. You had the same look in your eyes as I had when I looked at myself in the mirror." Then looking at him again, her smile widening a bit, she said, "At least your dream is fulfilled, Silver. I may have defeated Team Rocket, but you defeated Giovanni. We took them down together." She hugged him. "At least we can find a new dream now, also together?"

Silver smiled, a full genuine smile. He hugged her back. "Together."

Perhaps he already understood the hidden meaning of Soul's mother's words.

* * *

And finally! It's over (not really).

The epilogue should be up on tomorrow (not that there's much time now).

I re-written this a few times – several scenes doesn't play out quite well compared to when I thought of them. And I think there're plot holes in there. And it feels rushed. Uhhuu. =/

Not to mention I dissected and reconstructed the Celebi event to suit my story.

This is the longest one so far. I never realized it O.o

Anyways, R&R!


	4. eternal happiness

Just when I thought I'm on time… … Sorry for the late update! .

As **Sweet but Psycho** and **The Finesseful X** had pointed out in their reviews, there were many mistakes in my story here. =.='. I blame it on sleep deprivation, Claymore, Saiyuki Reload, and myself. I've corrected those (but not sure with this one though).

Feeling happy and sad at the same time. Happy 'coz this fanfic's over (and I managed to post daily too!) and sad coz' this fanfic's _over_. Uuhu ~ =

Anyways. Epilogue:

**

* * *

You, Me, Eternal Happiness**

_

* * *

A year later, Blackthorn City's Pokemon Center_

"… -p."

"… up."

"…"

"For Arceus's sake, Silver, wake up!"

"Hngh." Soul's eye twitched in annoyance. Ever since they travelled together, his sleeping habits had changed drastically – he had became a heavy sleeper. She glanced at her Pokegear, noting the time. _Ugh, we're so gonna be late_… _Should I smack his face with a pillow, or pour water-…_ her gaze fell on Silver's Feraligatr.

_Wait a second…_ She beckoned to the water starter, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Feraligatr, it seems that Silver wants to be the Sleeping Beauty this morning." Feraligatr noticed the smile and almost grinned (he wasn't called the Big Jaw pokemon for nothing).

"Gatr gatr fera gatr." _Yeah, as in every other day. _Typhlosion rolled his eyes.

"So we need a prince to wake him up."

"Fera ra gatr." _To kiss him. _The fire starter gagged, but Soul shushed him.

"Seeing I'm a girl, I'm out. So… will _you_ do the honors?" Soul gestured to the 'Sleeping Beauty' that is Silver. Her smile changed to a wicked grin.

"Feraligatr! Gatr fera!" _With pleasure! I'll throw in some extras too!_

Soul and Typhlosion watched expectantly as the pokemon ambled over to Silver and dropped on all fours.

Needless to say, Silver started the morning off with a scream. Two screams actually, since Feraligatr Water Gunned him right in his face after 'kissing' him.

.x.

Soul and the pokemon were still laughing as Silver mumbled darkly to himself over the breakfast.

"Aaw, come on Silver, it's not every day you get kissed by 'Prince' Feraligatr," Soul clutched her stomach, stiff from laughing too much. Every time she stopped laughing, another look at their pokemon (who had been let out for breakfast – and well, news travels fast) whom were also laughing at Silver was enough to set her off again. Even his death glare didn't affect them much – they knew he would never hurt them.

"You just wait, you'll get your payback later," Silver threatened.

"Yeah, right, whatever," she waved him off, her laughter subsided. They fell into a comfortable silence. While Silver concentrated on his breakfast, Soul stared at him, having nothing else to do – that is, until she noticed what she was doing.

Soul mentally slapped herself_._

.x.

"Yo, Sil-Sil!" Soul giggled as Silver grinded his teeth. Krys just grinned upon seeing his reaction, while Gold laughed outright when he heard the nickname. The former duo stepped down from their respective fliers and were ushered into Soul's house, which was empty – Soul's mother was accompanying Gold's to a shopping trip in Goldenrod City.

"I told you not to call me that."

"Yeah, but doesn't mean I've to comply." Soul smiled when she saw the playful banter between Krys and Silver. Because they travelled separately, their paths rarely crossed each other (they only had met twice before). Even now, the only reason she and Silver flew back to her home was Gold's upcoming birthday.

"Quite fair, actually. I think I'm the one torturing him," Soul wanted to tell Krys about Feraligatr and Silver, but a look from him made her stop. After all, if Krys _did_ learn about it… Soul didn't want to think about the consequences.

"Come on now, we've lots of things to catch up!" Gold piped in enthusiastically.

"Yeah, we haven't seen each other for a year! Tell us what've you done during your travels?"

Silver had sat down beside Soul as the three of them started talking excitedly, sharing their experiences. He let Soul do most of the talking, he himself talking only when necessary. He smiled inwardly as he watched them. He began to relax.

_I'm home._

.x.

"So, Soul…" Krys glanced at the said person from the frying pan. The two of them were in Soul's kitchen, preparing dinner – the mothers had decided to spend the night at Goldenrod when they realized it was too late to go back home. The four of them decided to have a sleepover at her house (although Silver and Gold insisted sleeping in separate rooms rather than together).

"Yeah?" Soul didn't look up from her task – chopping vegetables.

"Are you and Silver dating now?" Soul blushed, but kept chopping the vegetables.

"No." Krys's eyes widened, her cooking completely forgotten. "But you two are travelling together!"

"Krys, the frying pan." Krys's attention immediately reverted back to her cooking as she concentrated on not burning the chicken. Soul finished chopping the vegetables before speaking again.

"Well, we are aware of each other's feelings…" Soul smiled as Krys squealed. "But we want to take it slow, I guess. I mean, it's not as simple as it seems…"

"Oh, right…" Krys already knew about Giovanni – Silver had decided to tell her (and Gold) six months ago. Soul placed a pot on the stove and put the vegetables into it.

"But then, we are together for now. And I think that's enough for me, Krys." They smiled.

"Baby steps, hmm?"

Soul nodded.

_Baby steps._

.x.

"Couldn't sleep?" Soul peered out from the attic window.

"Yeah." Silver half-expected Soul to tell him to go down and have a hot drink. Instead, she climbed out and sat beside him, hugging her knees. They both stared at the night sky – moonless, but the twinkling stars made up for it.

"… Beautiful."

"Uh-huh."

Silence.

"Silver?"

"What?"

"What do you think of our relationship?" Soul couldn't help but blush as she asked the question.

"… Krys put you up to this, right?" Silver turned to face Soul.

"No, but she got me thinking about it."

"I love you." Soul blushed even harder when she heard that confession. "But, well, yeah, I'm not really good with words. You know that." Soul nodded and sneaked a glance at Silver –

"You're blushing too?" Silver turned away from Soul, embarrassed.

"Shut up. It's not like you're not," he pushed her shoulder. Soul giggled.

"I love you too. But…"

"… We shouldn't rush it, right?" Silver continued for her.

"Yeah."

"Fine by me. After all, we have all the time we want in the world." Silver smiled. "Come here." He pulled her closer to him, his arm wrapped around her neck. She rested her head against his shoulder. They stared into the sky again. After a while, Silver chuckled suddenly.

"What's so funny?" Soul asked him, but Silver only shook his head.

"I just realized… Ever since we started travelling together, we stopped searching for our 'new' dreams."

Soul smiled upon hearing it.

"Now that you mention it, I think I found mine." Silver raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, but then smiled too.

"You know what, I think I found mine too." Soul also raised an eyebrow as she turned upwards to face him.

"What is your dream?" Silver asked, as silver met hazel.

"To be with you." Soul smiled, blushing as she said it.

"What is your dream?" Soul asked Silver.

"You, by my side." He kissed her forehead as he said the words.

.x.

"_What is our dream?"_

"_Eternal happiness."_

* * *

…And the end. The epilogue's so hard to write, dammit! But fun (curse my indecision).

Thanks for reading this second fanfic of mine – I really learned a lot during writing this. Thanks to those who had read, faved and reviewed – you guys are great :D

Now I know I fail in the tenses and grammar, I'll try harder from now on to rectify that.

I'll end this with a "Happy Valentine's Day!" \(^.^)/


End file.
